WALTHAM, MA - Lt. Governor Timothy Murray has tapped the Defense Technology Initiative (DTI) the lead private sector partner in the Commonwealth's efforts to preserve its military assets and grow the region's defense and homeland security economy.

DTI will join MassDevelopment as the lead organizations on the Business, Industry and Military Alignment subcommittee, a key part of the Military Asset and Security Strategy Task Force chaired by Lt. Governor Murray.

"To build on DTI's seven-year record of accomplishment and its demonstrated capacity to coordinate important private sector, research, and educational resources with a variety of federal and state government agencies, the Task Force is designating DTI and MassDevelopment to work as a team to lead the Commonwealth's strategic interests in support of the Natick Soldier Systems Center and Hanscom and its Electronic Systems Center," said Lt. Governor Murray yesterday in remarks at the Massachusetts High Technology Council's Annual Meeting. He added, "We also recognize the value of DTI's efforts to coordinate engagement of assets across New England in support of not only Natick and Hanscom, but also in support of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in RI, the Groton Submarine Base in CT, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in NH."

Created as a public-private partnership in 2004, DTI was co-chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy and Governor Mitt Romney and implemented the state's successful strategy to preserve and expand its military installation during the federal 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). Following the successful BRAC campaign, which preserved Hanscom, Natick and other key installations, DTI evolved to support economic growth and R&D investment for New England's entire defense and homeland security cluster.

DTI created Science & Technology boards at the U.S. Army's Soldier Systems Center in Natick and Hanscom Air Force Base in recent years to develop stronger and more effective collaboration across government, industry and academia in order to leverage resources and develop innovative technologies that support the state's military bases and the economy. As a leader of the Business, Industry and Military Alignment subcommittee, DTI will further advance this work on behalf of the Commonwealth.

"We appreciate the leadership of Lt. Governor Murray in formalizing and enhancing collaborative efforts to support our military installations and defense technology assets," said DTI President Christopher Anderson. "There are significant challenges facing the increasingly technology-oriented defense and homeland security priorities of the federal government. Our capacity to align premier defense technology cluster assets in Massachusetts and New England with those priorities is essential and employing a proven public-private model - led by DTI, MassDevelopment and other regional partners - is the best way to preserve and enhance the bases, create jobs and support the mission of the U.S. military."

Murray also announced that The New England Council would fill an important role in the initiative by working to leverage support of business groups and chambers of commerce throughout the region.

MassDevelopment and DTI are both especially well positioned to coordinate and synergize public and private sector innovation assets so they are brought to bear in an effective way to achieve Task Force objectives. The Lt. Governor's statement formalizes the existing relationship between MassDevelopment and DTI that has worked well together over the last seven years.

Defense Technology Initiative, born from the region's successful 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) efforts, is working to implement a collaborative and sustainable New England-wide strategy that will strengthen the region's defense technology cluster and position it to serve a greater share of increasingly technology-oriented federal mission requirements. DTI will achieve this mission by providing regional leadership and convening capabilities among technology, research, federal and state government, and other regional innovation assets.

DTI's board is chaired by Dr. Jack Wilson, the former president of the University of Massachusetts. He is joined on the DTI leadership team by Fred Strader, president and CEO of Textron Systems Corp. and Lisa Aucoin, director of soldier solutions at BAE Systems.